Bulk Recruitment Lead/ Retail Talent Lead

Talent Candey; Durban; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Talent Candey is seeking a Bulk Recruitment Lead to head up a high-volume function from their Newlands East Head Office. The role drives delivery across South Africa and supports expansion into selected Sub-Saharan markets.

You will lead a dispersed team and shape sourcing, pipeline development and leadership hiring to enable rapid expansion. The successful candidate will have a track record in bulk recruitment, strong leadership, and the ability to align recruitment with business growth while

Qualifications

• 8+ years in recruitment, including bulk/high-volume recruitment.
• Experience leading geographically dispersed recruitment teams.
• Proven ability to manage recruitment for 1,000+ hires annually and oversee leadership hiring.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a geographically dispersed recruitment team comprising Senior Recruiters, Recruitment Officers and Administrators.
• Drive high-volume recruitment delivery across South Africa to meet operational hiring targets.
• Personally manage end-to-end recruitment for Operations Manager and Senior Operations Manager roles.
• Oversee recruitment for new store openings and replacement hiring.
• Develop sourcing strategies to improve quality, speed, and cost efficiency.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Analytics

MS Office

People management

Strategic thinking

Education

Diploma or Degree in HR/Business

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Our client, a leading national retail and quick service restaurant organization, is seeking an experienced and results-driven Bulk Recruitment Lead to head up their high-volume recruitment function based at their Head Office in Newlands East.

This is a strategic leadership role responsible for driving recruitment delivery across South Africa, while supporting expansion into selected Sub-Saharan African markets. The successful candidate will lead a geographically dispersed recruitment team, ensuring the business consistently attracts and appoints top talent to support both operational growth and new store openings.

This opportunity is ideally suited to an experienced recruitment leader who thrives in a fast-paced, high-volume environment and has a proven ability to lead teams, improve recruitment processes, and deliver exceptional hiring outcomes.

Purpose of the Role

To lead and manage the organizations bulk recruitment function by overseeing a multi-regional recruitment team responsible for hiring approximately 2,000 operational employees annually. In addition, the successful candidate will personally manage the recruitment of Operations Managers and Senior Operations Managers across the business, ensuring a high-quality talent pipeline for leadership roles.

Minimum Requirements

• Diploma or Degree in Human Resources, Business Management, or a related field.
• Minimum 8 years' recruitment experience, with significant exposure to bulk or high-volume recruitment.
• Proven leadership experience managing recruitment teams (essential).
• Experience leading remote or geographically dispersed recruitment teams.
• Demonstrated success managing recruitment volumes exceeding 1,000 hires annually.
• Strong operational recruitment, workforce planning, and stakeholder management experience.
• Experience recruiting leadership or operational management positions.
• Strong reporting, analytics, and recruitment process improvement capability.
• Advanced MS Office skills.
• Valid driver's licence and willingness to travel occasionally if required.

Advantageous Experience

• Recruitment experience within the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR), Hospitality, Retail, FMCG or Multi-site Operations environment.
• Experience supporting recruitment across multiple African countries.
• Experience managing recruitment for new site or store launches.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and develop a geographically dispersed recruitment team consisting of Senior Recruiters, Recruitment Officers and Recruitment Administrators.
• Drive high-volume recruitment delivery across South Africa, ensuring operational hiring targets are consistently achieved.
• Personally manage the end-to-end recruitment process for Operations Manager and Senior Operations Manager vacancies.
• Oversee recruitment for new store openings and replacement hiring across the business.
• Develop and implement effective sourcing strategies to improve recruitment quality, speed, and cost efficiency.
• Build sustainable talent pipelines for current and future operational hiring requirements.
• Partner closely with operational leadership to forecast workforce requirements and recruitment priorities.
• Monitor recruitment KPIs, team productivity and service delivery, implementing coaching and performance management where required.
• Ensure consistent recruitment processes, compliance standards, and best practices across all regions.
• Analyze recruitment metrics and provide regular reporting and operational insights to senior leadership.
• Identify opportunities for continuous improvement within recruitment systems, processes, and candidate experience.
• Support recruitment initiatives relating to business growth and expansion into selected African markets.

Key Competencies

• Exceptional leadership and people management skills.
• Strong organizational, planning and execution ability.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills.
• Commercially minded with strong operational awareness.
• Data-driven approach to decision making.
• Ability to perform under pressure and manage multiple priorities.
• Process improvement and continuous optimization mindset.
• Highly resilient, adaptable and solutions focused.
• Strong coaching and performance management capability.

Why Join This Opportunity?

• Lead a critical recruitment function within a fast-growing national business.
• Play a strategic role in supporting business growth across South Africa and selected African markets.
• Influence recruitment strategy, workforce planning, and operational excellence.
• Join a dynamic, performance-driven environment where your leadership will have a direct impact on business success.
• Opportunity to build, develop and shape a high-performing recruitment team.